(50) EVEN IN DEATH

(YOU ARE VICTORIOUS)

It’s bright.

So bright, that Xiumin thinks that he’s actually dead somehow. His neck feels heavy, vision blurry from the drunken sleep that tugs at his eyes, and he’s a little nauseous. It’s kind of like a mild hangover, except one, he’s only ever had one once, and two, he can’t taste any alcohol on his lips.

He never thought that being dead would be so boring. Here he was, staring at a white wall of some sort, floating almost. His breaths comes out in puffs of air that dissipate within seconds, even though it’s not exactly cold to him. He rubs his eyes some, clearing his throat, and thinks a little more about how incredibly boring this was. Floating there, dead, with no explanation of where he is or what happened.

He also didn’t know that death came with an incredibly annoying tapping sound, accompanied with some yapping (that seemed to be towards no one in particular.) He realizes that he’s not dead the moment his vision returns to normal, tilting his head to find another in the same room as he-

Baekhyun stands there, impatiently tapping his foot and staring out the window of the door. The room is small with a hexagonal shaped floor. All the floors and walls are white, and the window on the door is illuminated with a blue-ish tinted light.

“What’s going on?” Xiumin mumbles, rubbing at his eyes once more. Baekhyun doesn’t even bother to look in his direction.

“...We were tricked,” he says, biting his lip anxiously. “They trapped us in these...weird rooms. We can’t get out.”

Xiumin frowns. “Can’t we use our powers to free ourselves?” He asks, standing up from the floor. He holds his hand out to the door, willing his power so that it focuses on the center of his palm until they branch out to his fingertips.

But nothing happens.

“I wouldn’t try so hard if I were you. Our powers are useless in here.” He grumbles, kicking the wall out of irritation.

Baekhyun’s eyes were irritated, and not just because he was ready to at whomever had locked them in here. The whites of his eyes were red, as if he’d pulled an all nighter and still hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. They could sleep, too, since they were trapped. But Baekhyun had other things on his mind that prevented him from realizing it.

It had been so long since he’s last seen her. So long since he’s heard that annoying yapping that sometimes got soft and soothing. And it feels like years since he’s felt the presence of a woman, no offense to Luhan or anything. He was too quiet to be Sunny. Nobody could replace someone like her in Baekhyun’s eyes, and he was sure Kyungsoo thought the same way.

Looking back towards his brother, he finds Xiumin laying on the floor with his head propped up against the white wall. His eyes were closed as if he had no worries about the matter at hand.

“Aren’t you at least a little bit worried?” Baekhyun almost sneers, his anger getting the better of him as Xiumin opened his eyes once more.

“There isn’t much we can do, so we have to be patient.”

Xiumin pats the space next to him and Baekhyun reluctantly plops himself down on the floor, suppressing a shiver as the chill of the marble floor almost seems to pass through his pants.

“The others better be finding a way out by now.” Baekhyun grumbles, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes to be alone with his thoughts.

--

Sitting in a room with Chanyeol had never been so quiet, and Luhan has known the kid for years. Or was it really?

Luhan might have been one of the oldest of the boys, but that didn’t mean that he was there from the start either. By the time he came around, it was right before Sehun, Kai and Tao had somehow managed to join in on their little troupe.

Four years, approximately. He’d come to know everyone the year after Chen and Chanyeol had joined, having troubles bonding with those in particular due to the fact that Chen was too intuitive about everything and Chanyeol was too busy following Baekhyun around to really talk to him too much. Nevertheless, they were all close brothers though not by blood.

The fact was that Chen was just as good at sensing things as Luhan was surprising, especially since Luhan knew the boy was hiding something from the rest of them. He didn’t know what exactly, but it was something that kept him cracking jokes to cover up what he really felt. Luhan almost never knew what the kid was thinking when it didn’t regard some kind of prank or mischief.

It had only occurred to him then that he could have just have had used his powers to delve into Chen’s mind, but then again, Luhan wasn’t that keen on going against the boy’s will, especially since they were brothers.

Hence, why Chanyeol had no problem with telling Luhan what was on his mind despite how the two of them couldn’t use their powers.

“Hyung what do we do now?” Chanyeol breathed out.

He wasn’t looking at Luhan directly, but rather had his attention on his own hands, studying each fingertip as if he’d never seen them before in his entire life.

Chanyeol thought that his hands looked actually normal now. No fire or even the tiniest flame, anywhere. He was a bit worried since they were stuck in these rooms, but at the same time he hasn’t felt this normal since-

Memories of the burning antique shop were starting to return to Chanyeol’s mind, and he could feel his own eyes tearing up as he thought about Baekhyun.

This is something Luhan liked about Chanyeol. Not the fact that he was a bit destructive when it came to his powers, but rather, the fact that Chanyeol didn’t hide his own emotions. Whatever he was feeling was clearly printed on his face, whether he liked it or not. It made Luhan’s life easier, though it wasn’t like he needed to read Chanyeol since the latter did a good job at expressing himself anywho.

“Happy to be normal again?” Luhan mused, feeling the need to tease Chanyeol’s sudden predicament for a bit.

“N-No.”

Stammering. The fact that Chanyeol wasn’t looking at Luhan. The answer was obvious.

If Chanyeol had the chance to be powerless again, he'd take it. Luhan knew that much.

Both slumped against the walls of the cell, staring into the bright white walls dazed. None of them knew how long it’d been since they’ve been locked in.

“When will we get out of here, though?”

Luhan shrugs.

“I guess we'll just have to wait and see.”

--

It's been at least an hour since Kai’s woken up. The entire time, he's been trying to teleport out of the little cell to no avail. Now he's pacing, continuously looking out the little circle window for any sign of escape, but all he sees is a gigantic screen with all sorts of data on it, and a long desk with lots of buttons and flashing lights.

He's getting kind of claustrophobic now, and it doesn't help that he'd feel fine whenever he needed to teleport out of somewhere. But what happens when you wake up, and suddenly everything you thought just wasn't?

Of course, he has an idea of who did this to them. Whether or not it was truly their fault, he had no clue.

Kai glances at Suho who's curled up on the white floor, just as knocked out as before. He wants desperately to wake him, but he knows it won't do any good. He sighs, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

What if, he thought, we suddenly never had our powers?

The thought was terrifying as much as it was refreshing. Refreshing, in a sense that they'd be normal and their problems would be lifted. Terrifying, in a sense that new problems would arise after finding the powers to actually be helpful.

If they didn’t have their powers, who knows what those guys out there would do to them in their powerless states.

Peering out the window, it’s almost as if the guards were unaware of their presence completely, although they were the reason that Kai and the rest of the boys were in such a predicament. Suho was knocked out and Kai figured a bunch of the other guys were too, he just wasn’t sure since he was locked in a room with only one of his brothers.

Taking another peek outside, he finds himself sighing again as the sound of his discouraged breath echoed within the small room. Kai had no one to speak to about the questions overflowing his brain. Will they get out? Will their powers return?

He could only ask himself that as he slumped down against a wall and hoped that someone else was coming up with a plan. Once again, he was alone.

--

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Kyungsoo resists the urge to scream as he bites back a groan, nodding his head for the nth time that Lay has asked the question. The two of them were locked in a room like the others, only they didn’t know what was happening with their brothers and just hoped they were okay. Well, Lay did. Kyungsoo on the other hand could care less at this point.

He did care about his brothers, but he knew that if they were safe then the others should be too. That, and because Lay kept asking the same question over and over again, Kyungsoo was starting to get irritated by the second.

“Kyungsoo,” Lay mumbles out, hands rubbing together slowly as if he was trying to kindle a flame between his palms, “Are you-”

“Yes Lay, I’m fine.” Kyungsoo grits his teeth together and looks as his worrying brother, finding it hard to believe Lay was so concerned about him when he was in just as bad a shape as Kyungsoo was, maybe worse.

Since Lay was the healer of the group, he automatically got the majority of the healing abilities, hence why he never had to go through so much pain in his life. Fatigue, maybe. But this many cuts and bruises? Highly unlikely.

“You should worry about yourself more, you know.”

Giving Kyungsoo a small smile, Lay can only chuckle nervously before his eyes had darted up and down Kyungsoo’s body. Thin, red lines were clawed down Kyungsoo’s arms and neck, while purple blots were splattered here and there, covering Kyungsoo’s milky white skin. Since the guards had used guns of some sort, there were a few holes in Kyungsoo’s shirt too, revealing more injuries that Lay could only look at as the latter held back his pain and slow building irritation.

If anyone here was irritated, it was Lay. He was literally looking at his brother trying his best not to make a peep out of the pain that he was going through after being beat up by guards, while Lay himself could do nothing to help. He was powerless to stop Kyungsoo’s pain.

Before Lay could ask the same question again to ensure that nothing had happened to Kyungsoo within the last thirty seconds, he’d remembered something from a long time ago.

Their childhood wasn’t the prettiest of memories, though there were a few good memories that Lay could recall, seeing Kyungsoo so beaten up reminded him of that night when everything seemed to go wrong.

Kai’s screams made Lay’s ears ring, and the vicious winds almost throwing them around didn’t help the pain in Lay’s head either. All of the boys were looking at a pile of scrap metal as Luhan tries his best to use his powers to no avail. The metal was too heavy for him physically and mentally, only leaving him with blistered skin and tears being swept away in the wind.

Beneath it all lay Kyungsoo, a sight that Lay would love to forget- as if he were that heartless. Crushed limbs, blood gushing everywhere, now that he thinks about it, Lay would’ve called it that Kyungsoo should have been dead. He made it out though, and that was a miracle in itself. They’d all managed to get Kyungsoo out somehow and healing up the boy’s battered body was Lay’s first priority when they’d returned home.

Broken limbs, fractured bones. Almost every bad thing in Lay’s medical vocabulary was brought up then and there. He might’ve just been a kid, but studying alone as a kid really brushed up on his doctor skills. Kyungsoo should have been hooked up to an IV with fluids healing his system, but instead he had to rely on Lay to heal him. No amount of fatigue was going to let Lay stop, in fear that if he did then so would Kyungsoo’s life.

“Lay!”

Hearing his name, Lay’s head snapped up to see Kyungsoo’s face a mere inches away from his own. Kyungsoo had been shaking his shoulders for what seemed like ever since Lay wasn’t responding to his calls.

“Sorry, I- Uh…” Lay couldn’t help but let his eyes fall back on the cuts that littered Kyungsoo’s arms, “Are you alright?”

This time, Kyungsoo couldn’t take it anymore. He let out the biggest sigh today and pulled Lay to the ground with him, being careful not to land too roughly and further aggravate his injuries.

How they ended up meeting such a kind angel, Kyungsoo didn’t know. All he knew that Lay was something rivaled to a saint- maybe just a bit more clumsy if anything.

“I just…” Lay began, feeling his throat and lips go dry after recalling such a memory. “I remembered that night before everything had gone bad.”

“Ahh.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t need anymore details to know what he was talking about. It wasn’t too bad of a night when you looked on the bright side. Kyungsoo got his powers, they moved to a new house, etc. On the other hand, he almost died getting that power and they didn’t exactly move out of their house by choice.

Lightly placing his hand on Lay, Kyungsoo rubbed circles into his back until he could feel the latter physically loosen up, Lay’s tense shoulders drooping as his stiff posture calmed down into a slouch.

“You helped me then and you help me now, so it’s not something you should worry about.” Kyungsoo says, “Oh, and hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop asking if I’m okay or I’ll punch you.”

--

“You’re not Kyungsoo, hyung.” Chen groans, “You'll break your fists if you continue.”

Kris doesn’t care, nor is he even listening to Chen at the moment. The only thing on his mind was the pure rage he felt after being tricked. He knew that the androids were acting strange. Kris knew and yet he hadn’t said anything because he wanted to help Tao achieve whatever it is that he was trying to achieve.

The more Kris tried to think about it, the more it frustrated him. Why was he going so far for Tao’s sake? He could tell the boy was hiding something, but he just wasn’t sure what it was. He’s known him and they grew up like they were brothers, so it was only natural that he’d be able to tell these kinds of things.

“Hey Kris…”

Kris turns to look at Chen as the later avoids eye contact. A small smile appears on his catlike lips and Kris can already tell it’s not going to be good.

“You know, thinking won’t help you right now. There’s only so much a brain can process, especially yours.”

Kris just flips him off and refuses to speak to the latter until they get out of this hellhole. He just hopes he doesn’t go crazy from Chen’s hyena-like laughter.

--

“Why am I even here right now?”

Sehun blows his bangs up with his mouth, the feat making him even more bored and irritable since Tao is pretty much telling him that he doesn’t want to even look at him at the moment.

“Well, that makes two of us.”

“No, you don’t understand. It wasn’t supposed to be like this…” Tao grumbles, the latter eventually beginning to talk to himself after a while.

Sehun let his brother go off into his own little world while he tried to think of a way out.

“We don’t have our powers-”

“Which is kind of obvious, don’t you think?” Tao interrupts him, the two boys shooting each other glares.

“I’m just stating the facts so we can find a way out, jeez.”

Recollecting himself, Sehun makes a mental note to write that fact two was that Tao was being a pissy little brat. The thought makes him almost snicker, but he manages to hold it back in fear that Tao would try to start another fight with him.

But fact three was that Tao not only looked like he could throw multiple fits, but he also looked genuinely worried. And, of course, Sehun is one of the only ones aside from Kai who notices whenever Tao is in deep thought. He's been like that a lot lately.

“I already know that there's something you're not telling us,” Sehun finally admits, gritting his teeth and still sitting on the floor. “There's something...more going on, isn't there?”

Tao doesn't even do as much as look in his direction, but his silence is an answer in itself. Sehun bites his lip.

“I'm kinda thinking back… to all those superhero comics and movies Kai had shown us back then,” he says, fidgeting his fingers. “And I keep remembering the bad stuff, y’know? There's evil in this world. There's something behind that evil, and behind that, there's something else. Do you know what I mean?”

It takes a while for Tao to respond, but he eventually nods his head slowly, eyes still on the glass window.

Sehun continues. “And the hero… there's always some kind of story linked to his powers, right? With the plot twists and all that. It's just a mystery wondering what exactly happened in order for destiny to do it’s thing… I get the feeling that you know the answer to the big question we’re all asking here. Don't you?”

The room is filled with a piercing silence, bells ringing in Sehun’s ears as time passes by. He studies Tao for what seems like a really long time now, carefully this time.

He thinks about the bags under his eyes, and what they might mean.

“That’s right.”

Tao heaves a sigh before slumping down against the wall, his eyes locked on the door. “You’re right.”

Sehun doesn’t know what exactly he’s right about, but he doesn’t have time to think after realizing why Tao was staring so hard at the door for. It was almost as though he could feel the power radiating from it and soon, he knew why.

As the ringing noise in his ears began to get louder, he realized then that it wasn’t the silence making his ears feel strange, but actual alarms themselves, ringing softly until the sound had gotten loud enough to drown out his voice when he asked what was going on. There in the doorframe, a familiar face came into view- Annoying, but familiar-

And especially annoying for the people located outside.

--

“Where is she?” Baekhyun growled, yanking his arms away from the guards’ vice like grips. “Where have you taken her?”

Kyungsoo can only bite back a stupid remark about how overprotective Baekhyun was being, since he too, wanted to know where Sunny’s whereabouts were immediately. Looking around, it was evident that not all of the boys were to be released. He’d watched the guards rip Baekhyun away from Chanyeol’s cell, a feat that had almost seemed impossible until it had been done as Chanyeol’s screams progressively grew louder within the cell.

It wasn’t just him, either. Many of the boys had been taken out of their weird, power sapping cells. Xiumin and Baekhyun, along with Kyungsoo and Lay. Chen was dragged out by his collar as he clung to the doorframe, only having to let go as Kris yanked him outside to stop causing a ruckus.

“What’s going on?” Sehun asked, alarmed by their sudden movements.

He looked at Tao who seemed calm despite the situation. With his back pressed against the back wal